ITALY: The King Speaks

All day long and into the night, envoys
shuttled between the King's villa in picturesque Ravello and the nearby
villa where U.S. and British diplomats were lodged. In Naples next day
Vittorio Emanuele III broke a long silence:

"I have decided to withdraw from public affairs by appointing my son,
the Prince of Piedmont, Lieutenant General of the Realm [TIME, April
17]. This appointment will become effective by a formal transfer of
power on the day on which the Allied troops enter Rome. This decision
... is final and irrevocable.